Paper sheet feeding device



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 8, 1968 FIG.

FIG. 4

INVENTOR. V mUKH KB mi BY MW AWL 4M A'f-n A v I v s June so, 1910 YAsuo MURAKAMI PAPER SHEET FEEDING DEV'IQE 1 '2 heetssheet 2 Filed July 8, 1968 m w mm M ww E N 2.

United States Patent 3,517,922 PAPER SHEET FEEDING DEVICE Yasuo Murakami, Tokorozawa-shi, Japan, assignor to Sanko Shihei Keisanki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo-to, Japan, a joint-stock company of Japan Filed July 8, 1968, Ser. No. 743,215 Claims priority, application Japan, July 10, 1967, 42/44,343, 42/59,689 Int. Cl. B65h 1/06 US. Cl. 271-44 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Picking or engagement edges on feed plates of a card or sheet feeding device are moved in an oval path, one circuit through which covers one cycle of feed and return strokes respectively above and below a platform plate supporting stacked sheets. Each edge thus feeds a lowermost sheet in the feed stroke but is free of any contact during the return stroke. The feed plates and their engagement edges can be lowered by a feed stopping and starting device so that the movement in the oval path takes place below the platform plate and clear of the sheets thereby to cause instantaneous stopping of the feeding operation.

Background of the invention This invention relates to the field of techniques for handling paper sheet material such as cards, bank notes, and bills (hereinafter referred to as paper sheets or sheets) and more particularly of devices for feeding or delivering paper sheets successively sheet-by-sheet which devices are suitable for use in apparatuses such as paper sheet sorters and counters.

In at least one device of the above stated class known heretofore, there are provided: a horizontal rocker shaft rotatably supported below a bottom plate of a hopper in which cards, such as punch cards or other paper sheets, are stacked; rocker arms fixed at their proximal ends to this rocker shaft; feed structures called card pickers having knife-like engagement edges and fixed to the distal ends of the rocker arms; and a cam and follower mechanism to drive the rocker shaft in rocking or oscillatory motion and thereby to cause the engagement edges of the feed structures to engage one edge of the lowermost card of the stacked cards and slide the same toward and between delivery rolls.

While a device of the above stated character can be and has been reduced to a practical form, it is still accompanied by drawbacks in its fundamental design. One of these is the possibility of inaccurate or defective movement of the feed structure arising from play between the driving cam and the follower since a cam and follower mechanism is employed to produce the oscillatory motion of the rocker shaft.

Another, and more serious, drawback is that the feeding and return strokes of each feed structure are both made along the same arcuate path, and, consequently, the engagement knife edge rising from each feed structure contacts the lower surface of the stacked cards during the return stroke and is thereby subject to wear, which eventually leads to inability of the edge to function as intended.

A further difficulty caused by the contact between the engagement edge and the lower surface of the card stack during the return stroke is that the stacked configuration of the stack tends to become disarrayed, whereby the engagement edge fails to pick or catch positively the edge of a card in some cases. Furthermore, the contact between the engagement edge and the stack of cards tends to cause damage to the lower surface of the succeeding lowermost card.

3,517,922 Patented June 30, 1970 Apart from the above described difficulties, when the sheet feeding operation of a device of known type as described above is to be stopped, it is necessary to stop the motive power means such as a motor or to use a device such as a releasable clutch to stop the movement of the rocker arm. In either case, it is not possible to stop the sheet feeding instantaneously because of the momentum of the moving parts. This deficiency is extremely inconvenient in applications such as that in counting devices wherein the feeding of sheets is to be stopped after a predetermined number thereof have been fed.

Summary of the invention It is an object of the present invention to provide, in a paper sheet dispensing machine, a paper sheet feeding device of relatively simple organization and operation which is not accompanied :by the above described drawbacks and difiiculties.

According to the present invention, briefly summarized, there is provided a paper sheet feeding device of the above stated character in which the engagement edge of atleast one feed plate moves in a continuous oval path one circuit of which constitutes one cycle of feed and return strokes respectively above and below the upper surface of a platform plate supporting a stack of paper sheets, whereby the engagement edge is free of contact during its return stroke and can positively catch the trailing edge of the lowermost paper sheet during its feed stroke.

According to the present invention, in another aspect thereof, there is provided, in a paper sheet feeding device of the above stated character, a stopping device which can be operated instantaneously to lower the feed plate and the mechanism producing the movement in the above mentioned oval path to a position where the oval path is brought fully below the upper surface of the platform plate, whereby the feeding action is instantaneously stopped.

Brief description of the drawings The nature, principle, details, and utility of the invention will be more clearly apparent from the following detailed description with respect to a preferred embodiment of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals and characters.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view, with parts broken away and some removed, showing a paper sheet dispensing machine in which and in combination with which an example of the paper sheet feeding device of the invention is incorporated;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, mostly in vertical section, showing the essential internal organization of the machine shown in FIG. 1 and showing principally the parts on the left-hand side of the device of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing principally the parts on the right-hand side of the device of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view indicating the motion of a feed plate in an oval cyclic path in the paper feeding device according to the invention.

Terms herein used to indicate directions, such as front, rear, left, and right are in conformance with the designation set forth in FIG. 1. That is, for example, the side on which pulleys 10 and 12 are disposed in the right side, and pulley 10 is in front of pulley 12.

Detailed description of the invention Referring to the drawings, the example of the paper sheet dispensing machine shown therein has a frame structure composed principally of a base 1 and mutuallyopposed side support walls 2 and 3 rising vertically from the base 1 at positions near the left and right ends, respectively, thereof.

A platform plate 4 (sloping slight downward) toward the rear is fixed to the upper edge parts of the side Walls 2 and 3. Above the platform plate 4 and in a place substantially perpendicular to the upper surface 5 thereof, there is provided a gate plate 6 extending transversely across the platform plate 4 with its lower edge 7 confronting the surface 5 to form a slit 8 therebetween, the gate plate 6 being secured to the outer casing (not shown) of the device. The slit 8 has a width such that only one paper sheet can pass therethrough at one time.

A motor 9 is mounted on the rightside wall 3 and is cou led to a transverse shaft 11 rotatably supported by the side walls 2 and 3 through a pulley fixed to the motor shaft, a drive belt 10a, and a driven pulley 12 fixed to the right end of the shaft 11. The shaft 11 supports and is fixed to a gear 13 meshed with an idler gear 15 which is fixed to an intermediate shaft 14 and meshed with a pinion 18 fixed to a transverse roll shaft 17 passing through and rotatably supported by the side walls 2 and 3.

The roll shaft 17 at its two ends supports and is fixed to delivery rolls 19 and 20, the upper parts of which protrude slightly above the upper surface 5 of the aforementioned platform plate 4 at a position rearward of the gate plate 6 and are in rubbing contact with respective delevery rolls 21 and 22 rotatably supported thereabove by a part of the casing (not shown) of the device.

The driving gear 13 is further meshed with a pinion 23, which is supported on and fixed to a feed for drive shaft 24 transversely passed through and rotatably supported by the side walls 2 and 3. The feed bar drive shaft 24 at its two ends supports and is fixed to the proximal ends of crank arms 25, each of which has at its distal end 26 a stud crank pin 27 rotatably fitted in the rear end of a feed bar 28.

An intermediate part of this feed bar 28 is slidably inserted in and through a slide bearing member 32 fixed to and supported on one end of a transverse pivot shaft 31 passing through cutouts 29 and 30 in the side walls 2 and 3. The front ends of the left and right feed bars 28, 28 are respectively fixed to brackets 33 and 34, which are fixed to and joined by a cross bar 35 whereby the left and right feed bars 28, 28 are integrally connected. The brackets 33 and 34 further support respective feed plates 38 and 39 integrally fixed to the upper parts of the brackets with an orientation substantially parallel to the front ends of the feed bars 28, 28.

The aforementioned platform plate 4 is provided at its front part with openings 36 and 37 through which the above described feed plates 38 and 39 can freely move as described hereinafter. The feed plates 38 and 39 are provided along their upper front edges with sheet picking or engagement edges 40 and 41 projecting upward above the upper surfaces of the feed plates with a height corresponding to the thickness of a single paper sheet. The movement of the feed plates 38 and 39 due to the motion of the feed bars 28, 28 causes these engagement edges to engage with the front or trailing edge of the lowermost paper sheet A on the platform plate 4 and thereby to feed that sheet A toward the delivery rolls 19 and 20.

Furthermore, alignment plates 42 and 43 for aligning and preventing shifting of the front edes of paper sheets A, A, erect position to the front part of the side walls 2 and 3. These alignment plates 42 and 43, are provided on their rear surfaces confronting the above mentioned engagement edges 40 and 41 with recesses 44 and 45 or arcuate profile in vertical, front-and-rear section into which the knife-like edges 40 and 41 during their motion can enter without striking the alignment plates 42 and 43.

On the inner sides of the side walls 2 and 3, there are provided two lever arms 46 and 47 respectively pivoted stacked on the platform plate 4 are fixed in,

at their proximal ends on the side walls 2 and 3 and having bearing holes 48, 48 at their intermediate parts through which the aforementioned pivot shaft 31 passing through the cutouts 29 and 30 is rotatably fitted. The distal ends of these arms 46 and 47 are connected through connecting links 49, 49 to distal ends of links 50, 50 pivoted at their proximal ends on brackets 60, 60 fixed to the side walls 2 and 3.

Furthermore, a transverse shaft 51 is fitted at its ends into the distal ends of the links 50, 50 on the left and right sides and is provided near its ends with helical springs 52 and 53 stretched between the shaft 51 and fixed parts of the side walls 2 and 3. These springs 52 and 53 thereby exert a force on the shaft 51 whereby, because of the design of the dimensions and dispositions of the links 49, 49 and links 50, 50 constituting a toggle mechanism, the pivot shaft 31 on the arms 46 and 47 is urged toward the platform plate 4. An actuating bar 54 is connected at one end thereof to the middle part of the shaft 51 and at the other end to the core plunger 56 of a stationary solenoid 55.

The aforementioned feed bar drive shaft 24 is provided with a balance weight 57. A gate adjusting member 58 is provided at a point rearward of the gate 6.

The present invention resides in the combination in and with a paper sheet dispensing machine as described above of a paper sheet feeding device comprising the feed plates 38 and 39, their driving mechanism including the feed bars 28 and slide bearings 32, the mechanism for rotatably supporting and controllably positioning the slide bearings 32, and related parts.

The example of the paper sheet dispensing machine of the above described essential organization incorporating the paper sheet feeding device according to the invention operates in the following manner.

Clockwise rotation (as viewed in FIG. 2) of the motor 9 is transmitted through pulley 1t), drive belt 10a, pulley 12, shaft 11, the gear train of gears 13, 15, and pinion 18, and shaft 17 to rotate delivery rolls 19 and 20 in the clockwise direction (as viewed in FIG. 2).

At the same time, the rotation of gear 13 is transmitted through pinion 23 to feed bar drive shaft 24, which thereby rotates each crank arm 25 in the counterclockwise direction. Consequently, crank pin 27 fixed to the distal end of each crank arm 25 causes the rear end of feed bar 28 to undergo a circular counterclockwise motion in a vertical plane. On one hand, an intermediate part of each feed bar 28 is supported by roekable slide bearing 32 at the end of rotatable pivot shaft 31 in a manner to permit reciprocating sliding movement of feed bar 28 relative to slide bearing 32.

Consequently, the front end of each feed bar 28 is caused by the circular motion of the rear end to undergo a motion in an egg-shaped oval path, as indicated in FIG. 4, with its longer axis parallel to feed bar 28 and its wider end directed toward the front. As a result, feed plates 38 and 39 fixed to the front ends of left and right feed bars 28, 28 also undergo a similar motion in oval path.

The motion and operation of feed plates 38 and 39 will now be considered more fully in conjunction with FIG. 4, which shows only feed plate 39' and indicates this plate in its most forward or retracted position. When, with feed plates 39 in this fully retracted state, the rear end of feed bar 28 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction (as viewed in FIG. 2), therear end first descends, and feed plate 39 thereby ascends with almost no displacement component in the front-and-rear direction. Since the movement of feed plate 39' at this time is essentially a pivotal movement about pivot shaft 31, feed plate 39 tilts rearward as it ascends until its engagement edge 41 emerges from arcuate recess 45 of alignment plate 43 to engage with the front edge of the lowermost paper sheet A.

Thereafter, feed plate 39, continues its tilting movement and also moves slowly toward the rear until its edge 41 reaches a part X in its path, where feed plate 39' moves rearward with increasing velocity. The rear or leading part of the paper sheet A thus being ejected in a sliding manner is thereupon caught between delivery rolls 19 and 20 and delivery rolls 21 and 22, and the paper sheet A is thereby delivered out. Feed plate 39 continues to advance rearward until its edge 41 reaches a point Y, where the upper surface of feed plate 39 is aligned flush with the upper surface of platform plate -4, whereupon the rearward feed stroke of feed plate 39 is completed.

Feed plate 39 thereafter begins its return stroke, whereupon engagement edge 41 first sinks below the upper surface 5 of platform plate 4, and then feed plate 39 returns to the above described original position along a path which is completely below platform plate 4 and is symmetrically opposite the path of the rearward feeding stroke.

While the motion and operation of feed plates 38 and 39 have been described above mostly with respect to feed plate 39 and related parts thereof, it should be understood that feed plate 38 and related parts thereof operate in synchronism in exactly the same manner.

By the above described organization and operation according to the present invention, the feed plates 38 and 39 tilt and rise during the rearward feeding stroke in a manner to lift the front part of the stack of paper sheets. Accordingly, the engagement edges 40 and 41 can positively catch the front edge of the lowermost paper sheet A even when this sheet is curved. Furthermore, since the feed plates 38 and 39 then advance rearward with increasing velocity as their angle of tilt is reduced, the paper sheet being fed is fed out in full contact with and along the upper surface of the feed plates. Moreover, since the feed plates are completely submerged below the platform plate 4 during the return stroke, there is no possibility of adverse results such as unnecessary wear of the engagement edges 40 and 41.

A further advantageous feature of the invention lies in a device of the following description for instantly stopping and starting the paper sheet feeding operation. When the feeding operation is to be stopped, a microswitch or a push button (not shown) is closed to energize the aforementioned solenoid 55, whereupon core plunger 56 thereof is pulled in the direction W as indicated in FIG. 2. Consequently, actuating bar 54 connected between core plunger 56 and shaft 51 overcomes the force of springs 52 and 53 and causes links 50 to rotate clockwise (as viewed in 'FIG. 2) about their pivots on 'brackets 60, 60.

Accordingly, connecting links 49, 49 descend as they pivot about their pin connections to the distal ends of arms 46 and thereby cause arms 46 to pivot in the counterclockwise direction (as viewed in FIG. 2) about their proximal pivot points. Consequently, pivot shaft 31 supported at intermediate points of these arms 46 descends in an arcuate path as indicated by arrow Z in FIG. 2, and the aforedescribed oval path of motion of feed plates 38 and 39 is caused to sink below platform plate 4. As a result, engagement edges 40 and 41 of feed plates 38 and 39 cease to engage the paper sheets A, whereby the feeding of the paper sheets is stopped.

When the solenoid 55 is deenergized, pivot shaft 31 is returned to its original position by the force of springs 52 and 53, whereby the paper feeding operation is promptly resumed.

By the use of the feed stopping and starting device of the above described organization and operation according to the invention, it is possible to start the motor 9 and allow the power transmission mechanism to develop full momentum before deenergizing the solenoid 55 and beginning the paper sheet feeding operation. By this procedure, none of the various parts of the feeding device are subjected to excessive stress, and the serviceable life of the motor and other parts is prolonged.

Furthermore, since the feeding operation stopping and starting device affords stopping of the operation at any stage thereof, it is possible to incorporate various automatic features by the addition of very simple means. For example, by providing counting means in the electrical circuit of the solenoid to operate and stop the feeding operation upon detection of a predetermined number of paper sheets fed by the feeding device, it is possible to obtain readily one or more groups of paper sheets of the predetermined number.

A further feature of the invention is that a toggle mechanism is used in the device for stopping and starting the feeding operation to actuate the arms 46, 46, whereby these arms can be actuated by small forces applied by the solenoid 55 and return springs 52 and 53.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for the purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a paper sheet dispensing machine having a motive power means, delivery rolls, mechanism to transmit power from the motive power means to the delivery rolls, and holding means including a platform plate to hold stacked paper sheets, the combination therewith of a paper sheet feeding device for feeding said stacked paper sheets singly and successively to said delivery rolls, said device comprising: at least one feed bar (28); a rotatable slide bearing (32) for supporting an intermediate part of said feed bar slidably in the longitudinal direction thereof; adjustable support means (31, 46, etc.) for rotatably supporting said slide bearing; a feed plate (38 or 39) mounted on one end of the feed bar and having an engagement edge (40 or 41); and drive means (23, 24, 25, 27) driven by said mechanism to impart rotary crank motion in a vertical plane to the other end of the feed bar, said crank motion causing oscillatory and sliding motion within the slide bearing of the feed bar whereby said engagement edge is caused to move in a continuous oval path, one circuit of 'which constitutes one cycle of feed and return strokes respectively above and below the upper surface of said platform plate, whereby the engagement edge in the feed stroke successively engages and feeds each lowermost sheet of the stacked sheets toward said delivery rolls.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which the adjustable support means for rotatably supporting the slide bearing is a feed stopping and starting device comprising, in combination: a horizontal shaft (31) fixed at one end to the slide bearing; at least one lever arm (46 or 47) pivoted at its proximal end at a stationary point and rotatably supporting at an intermediate part thereof said shaft; a toggle mechanism (49, 50, 51) connected to the distal end of said lever arm; and an actuating device (55, 56, 54) connected to said toggle mechanism for actuating the same to move the lever arm and, therefore, the shaft between an upper operative position at which the engagement edge of the feed plate can thus feed the paper sheets and a lower inoperative position at which the oval path of movement of said edge is positioned below the platform plate, whereby the feeding operation is stopped.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which there are provided, in parallel spaced-apart disposition, two feed bars, two corresponding slide bearings, and two corresponding feed plates, each having a respective engagement edge, said two feed bars and, therefore, said two feed plates being driven in synchronism.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which the oval path of movement of the engagement edge is so positioned that said edge, during the end of its return stroke and the beginning of its feed stroke, moves in a recess formed in an alignment plate (42 or 43) disposed perpendicularly to the platform plate to align the edges of the stacked paper sheets, whereby the engagement of said edge with the trailing edge of the lowermost sheet is facilitated and made positive.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 2 in which there are provided, in parallel spaced-apart disposition, two feed bars, two corresponding slide bearings, and two corresponding feed plates, each having a respective engagement edge, said two feed bars and, therefore, said two feed plates being driven in synchronism, said two slide bearings being fixed to opposite ends of said horizontal shaft.

'6. The combination as claimed in claim 3 in which the oval path of movement of each engagement edge is so positioned that said edge, during the end of its return stroke and the beginning of its feed stroke, moves in a recess formed in an alignment plate (42 or 43) disposed perpendicularly to the platform plate to align the edges of the stacked paper sheets, whereby the engagement of said edge with the trailing edge of the lowermost sheet is facilitated and made positive.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,743,103 4/1956 Ebner 271--44 EDWARD A. SROKA, Primary Examiner 

